Wednesday, April 07, 2010

When Did Sexism Become Okay Again?

Once again -- two summers in a row -- I'm having trouble finding a second serving/bartending job in the city. But unlike last year, I went out early and didn't limit myself to nearby places, and still nothing. Is it because nobody is hiring? Last year I blamed it on the big stock market crash, and the fact that I might have been too late handing out resumes. People are hiring alright. They're hiring women, preferably blonde with C's or higher -- I.Q. not an asset, nor is experience. That's right, Toronto (and perhaps much of the rest of the world) has once again shown its ugly prejudice side, and this time its a battle between the sexes.

You may ask, was there something wrong with my resume? I'm sure it has nothing to do with it. It's tailored to cater to the service industries' needs: my restaurant experience is highlighted over any other unrelated experience, boasting over ten years in the industry, I have smart serve and smart bar certification, I've established beverage seminars, and I even have experience with a few point-of-sale systems (the computer system used to punch orders in).

Well then you might ask if I went to hand in my resumes looking like a bum, or maybe I went at the wrong times. Well, I'd like to think that I've taken care of the aesthetics and the timing -- nobody likes it when someone asks if you're hiring while you're in the middle of a busy dinner rush.

Nope, it's because I don't have a pair of tits. plain and simple, although the implications are not so simple. How do I know this? Because the managers and servers I've handed resumes to have clearly stated, "Oh, we're not hiring guys right now. We're looking for a girl to work the patio for us." Now, I can understand it if their staff was heavily male based and they were looking to round out their team, but such is rarely (I haven't seen it yet) the case. Some of the employers even said, "sex sells, and I need people looking at the girls working my bar, so that they might think to come in."

I get it. Really, I do. From a business point of view, you're only trying to bring in more money by catering to stupid rich men who actually think that they might have a chance to get laid by the hot -- but dumb -- blonde, by being a hotshot and ordering rounds of Jager off her. You're also stating, by the way, that men have all the money, and that women don't pay. Women are only useful as attractions/drink servers, so long as they're cute, and men are dumb as bricks for falling for such an easy ploy to get their money. That's what you're telling me.

Now, I'm not suggesting -- by any means -- that all women servers are stupid. Many of them are not; in fact, quite a few at my restaurant are ten times smarter than most of the male staff. What I am suggesting is that the bar/restaurant owners of Toronto don't care about intellect, or experience, or capability. They're thinking, "repeat business", but they don't realize that shitty service is a powerful thing that may sway a person's decision to return. Male, with 10 years experience versus woman, with zero experience and a new set of implants. Winner? You guessed it! Girl power!

Do you know that my "extremely capable and intelligent" managers decided to bring a girl with absolutely no experience onto the bar just when our slow season was coming? That's right, the bartenders now need to share the dwindling shifts with this new chick (don't get me wrong, she's a nice girl), and apparently 10+ years experience and hard work doesn't mean squat anymore. Furthermore, as of May all the girls must wear short black skirts as part of their uniform... including the female bartenders. When the female bartenders asked how they're supposed to lift the kegs and cases of beer with miniskirts on, the managers said the following:

"You girls are work-horses, you work too hard and we want to change that. From now on you won't be doing kegs, we want you on the bar where the guests can see you."

TRANSLATION:

"Girls, start looking prettier, and let the male bar-backs do your job for you. Guys, pick up the slack for the girls; you're here to work."

The girls on the bar fought hard to prove themselves on the bar, and now it appears that they didn't even have to. The guys are going to have to fight even harder, and scrounge for the better shifts they deserve (according to experience and work ethic), until eventually they become a relic of the past. Pretty soon there won't be any more male bartenders, or maybe even servers for that matter. We're returning to the 50's people, but an awkward 50's that will likely be way worse.

From now on I'm going to try to make it a point to get a good look at who is serving me, and what kind of people are working at the establishments I frequent. Don't expect a good tip from me just because your chest is exposed and your blonde hair is glistening with a fresh dye job. And if I walk into an establishment that is 99% girls, chances are I'm walking right back out. Jack Astor's and the Loose Moose are progressively (should I say regressively) getting worse with their "profile hiring", while Clinton's -- although their reasons for hiring mostly women are acceptable -- is actually getting better (now having 3 males to 7/8 females). Bedford Academy: Boycotted! I'm sorry, but your comment about only hiring women really got to me: "You can go to the labour board if you want, but I'm only hiring girls right now." --and this came from a woman too!

Songs I've Written~Face Against the Glass (A Song For Emily)~~Better Off As Friends (A Song For Elizabeth)~~In Another Dimension~~Drunken Monsters~~Makes No Sense~~Fallen Leaves~~Heart Glue~~Deeper Shades of Grey~~When She (A Song For Paris)~~Here We Are, Again~